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The article discusses the changes in public libraries as of June 2021. Topics covered include ways libraries are engaging with patrons, critical role of both public libraries and their higher education counterparts in helping their communities have access to technology throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and automated solution offered by LaptopsAnytime to the challenge faced by librarians during the pandemic.

The article discusses issues related to online research tools offered by libraries. Despite the marketing attempts by librarians, very few library patrons are using library databases. The author suggests that librarians should emphasize what patrons are missing by relying on the free Internet alone. Databases and vendors are also examined. INSETS: The Vendor Connection;Tips for Librarians.

Comments on library blogs. Potential of blogs for promoting library services to the community; Question of how to compel readers to return regularly to the library blog; Observation that there is a technology available to feed blog postings directly into courseware sites; Author's experience starting up a blog for his library; Ways to interest students in reading blog content; Suggestions for successful blogging; Reasons for optimism about library blogs. INSET: Tips for Successful Blogging.

Focuses on the attraction of Internet and computer access for library patrons in the United States. Findings of the assessment of the Library Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Issue of defining the digital divide; Increase in workload and work-related stress for library staff from increased patronage since the installation of computers; Details of the 'Gates Model' library program; Outreach to the poor and in urban areas.

Offers tips for making public Internet access systems in libraries stable. Choice of hardware; Suggestion for securing the operating system, which is usually a Windows program; Need for good product support to counter computer system failures; Caution in making changes to the basic input-output system (BIOS); Recommendation for the Netscape Navigator 4.08 standalone browser; Use of antivirus software and firewalls in public workstations; Backup for staff workstations; Details of the 'snapshot' concept.

Describes the Business Information Center (BIC), which is located in the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. The primary aim of the BIC, which is to access business information, to support the integration of information and technology into the curriculum, and to act as a center for research and development for state-of-the-art information technology applications in education and business; Design of the BIC, which serves as an electronic hub for the school, making it the only fully networked business school in the country; Strategy of Dean Roy Herberger in developing the BIC; Online database services which the BIC subscribes to, including DIALOG, DataTimes, ORBIT, and the DOW JONES NEWS/RETRIEVAL; Discussion of reference services which are available to library users.

The article discusses the "Library 2.0" theory which presents a user-centered model for the next generation of library services. The model is based on notions of changing library technologies. The economic theory of the "long tail" as it relates to library patrons is a key aspect of the "Library 2.0" concept.

Presents the views of Cleveland Public Library's director, Marilyn Gell Mason, on how to provide the best library service. Discussion of how the library offered access to complete Associated Press (AP) reports during Operation Desert Storm; View that the library is able to predict what library users need and respond in a timely way to these needs; Construction of a dial-up service by the library, which offers in its online catalog a current index to articles in a number of magazines and other information on periodicals and library materials; Thoughts of Mason the partnerships of the library with electronic publishers, including software and database publishers.

The article examines the role of technology in libraries. Libraries began using online systems in the early 1970s to automate internal procedures such as acquisitions and circulation control. This process of internal automation created an up-to-date online file of bibliographic information, including holdings and status availability of a library's collection. Initially, this online file was used only by library personnel at staff-use terminals. The proliferation of online terminals and the expansion of this valuable database have gradually attracted the library's users to its use. To meet this demand, libraries are now providing direct access for library users through the use of online public access catalogs. These are equipped with so-called user friendly interfaces with which a wide range of library users feel comfortable. Searching by subject, title, author, or keyword, library users can access all of the information in the catalog that relates to a specific word or phrase. Compared to the conventional card catalog, the online public access terminal quickly provides current information on a library's holdings, their availability, and their whereabouts. Library automation has now evolved into a powerful aid for gaining access to information both inside and outside the library.

Looks at the latest in consumer software and electronics, and their implications for librarians. Argument that video games have serious implications for learning, information production, sharing and retrieval; How libraries are starting to include gaming nights or tournaments, as well as circulating video games to patrons; Sophistication of gaming technology; Outlook for the release of three new machines, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution; Online connectivity; Role of high definition; Why users are attracted to individual machines; All-in-one media devices; Storage.

For most public library customers a database still seems like the brainy kid in high school: willing and able to help you but a little intimidating. At the Cuyahoga County Public Library, a 28-branch public library system in northeast Ohio, there are rich database resources.

Announces the continuation of Winnipeg Public Library's business relationship with epixtech, which provides the library with automation solutions. When the library began its association with the vendor; Installation of Dynix system and Horizon Sunrise; Other installations the library has signed up for; Number of patrons visiting the library annually.

This article discusses the goal of every library to increase its services to patrons while containing the costs of providing those services. Increasing costs of library operations has made this goal a difficult and challenging one. The library system consortium has been one logical response to this need. Consolidation of data and sharing of system costs has worked in a mutual advantage. As library systems have evolved and matured, it is evident that the library database is much larger and encompasses more library materials than it did when systems were driven solely by circulation requirements. This transition is relevant to library systems planning. In relation to this, there is a need to develop a standard or de facto standard for online catalog access. The complexity of online catalog access, in one point or another, has posed a larger challenge to libraries. The lack of standards for online access has resulted in inconsistent record access. The generic equivalents in an automated environment, such as record display and index listing, now vary from one vendor to another. This means that something significant has been lost in the automation process. The application of computing technology in library services must include a conscious effort to be certain that users are provided with coherent structure of access to library materials and recorded knowledge in all libraries.

Describes how the Bloomington Public Library use automation to improve contact with its patrons in Illinois. Production of a mailing label program; Development of programs for senior citizens; Development of letter for adult patrons.

Focuses on a survey of microcomputer use in academic and public libraries by 'Library Computing.' Variety of brands and models being used in both types of libraries; Use of computers for administrative functions, library operations and online searching; Popular software programs; Creation of software; Problems.

Relates how two librarians at a public library put together a proposal to build a collection of computer software. Areas that needed to be addressed; Selection of three systems; Software selection; Circulation; Their experience processing and packaging the disks; Reaction of the public; Economical approach; Outlook for software lending by libraries.

The article offers opinions on library services and advice for reference librarians. Many much-used reference materials, such as sample copies of tests for civil service jobs and regulated professions, exist in both print and database forms. Both offer advantages for library users. The librarian is advised to create a budget plan that can provide the materials in both forms.

The article reports that the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (MDLBPH) has automated their request system by installing a Keystone Library Automation System (KLAS). KLAS is based on the Progress OpenEdge business application platform, and allows MDLBPH to act as a centralized warehouse to serve patrons statewide.

Offers a look at the Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) project that libraries will use to standardize data collection and reporting. Use of online databases to gather information about the use of library collections; Ability of the data to inform libraries on the needs of library users and on whether users prefer HTML or PDF for full-text articles; Suggestion that usage reports can help librarians rethink collection development decisions.

Comments on Google's strengths and weaknesses. Role of librarians in making effective decisions about when and how to use Google's services and advise users appropriately; Strengths as a search engine; Overview of Google's Scholar search service, which offers content from academic and scholarly publishers; Advantages and trade-offs.

The article presents a survey asking librarians how they would spend $20,000. Marshall Shore, Manager, Ocotillo Branch Library, Phoenix Public Library, would erect a huge sign outside the library that would include a television screen, allowing them to market programs and services. Corinne Hill, Collection Development Manager, Denton Public Library, Texas, would spend $12,000 to get a subscription with Recorded Books for audio download and $8000 on audiobook CDs. Steven Bell, Director, Paul J. Gutman Library, Philadelphia University, suggested offering $1000 stipends to the most influential faculty to persuade them to participate in a summer workshop on using the library's electronic resources. The money would be spent by Mary "Cal" Zunt, Manager, Carnegie West Branch, Cleveland Public Library, to purchase two computer workstations for her differently abled patrons, design a teen-friendly reading area, and pay honoraria for Latino poets/authors.

This article looks at the development of a integrated library system by Georgia's Office of Public Library Services. Claiming that no integrated library system (ILS) meets its needs, the Public Information Network for Electronic Services (PINES) Consortium is developing its own. PINES includes 250 public libraries in 44 systems (out of Georgia's 58 library systems). It has over 1.3 million active users and includes nearly eight million items. "We're unique among consortia in that we are more centralized, with one single database on one server," explained Julie Walker, PINES systems administrator. "So we have more issues on all levels when looking for a solution." Walker reports that there are no products designed for a large consortia, nor were any vendors concentrating on this market in the near future. The goal is to have an alpha version of the cataloging, circulation, and OPAC modules by June 2005. "We'll take this to our members and the PINES executive committee for confirmation that we're headed in the right direction," Walker said. It is intended that all modules are live by the end of 2006.

The author comments on self-service transaction in libraries and how it eliminates human interaction. The Rush to self-service, the current fad of library administrators, is robbing libraries of one of their unique and very important qualities. It separates libraries from other agencies and institutions of life in modern society: city hall, the motor vehicle department, the supermarket, and even the doctor's office and the pharmacy. It is the guarantee that when patrons use a library, they will be afforded human interaction with people who are smiling, like their jobs, and know they are there to help. It takes a trained, educated human to make certain the patron's encounter with the library is as rich as possible, especially those first and final bits of business, checking borrowed materials in and out. I'm worried about the possibility that RFID and other electronic circulation tools will allow governments to spy on my reading. But I'm much more worried about what that self-service transaction, empowered by all these new technologies, will do to the valuable human interaction that is the sine qua non of good library service. We must not turn that first and last patron connection to the library over to some dumb machine.

Presents the author's views and observations related to library science. Call for readers to take the author's "highly unscientific" poll, attempting to assess what drives the selection of e-resources in libraries; Quote from Sam Brooks, Senior vice president of Sales & Marketing at EBSCO Information Services, regarding the trends in full-text databases; Discussion of Web-based music systems available to libraries; Web site addresses for Classical Music Library and Naxos Music Library.

Discusses the release by Gaylord Information Systems of Polaris 3.0, which will allow libraries to provide patrons with the option of storing of deleting records of items they have checked out. Other features, including a personal search agent; Incorporation of EBSCO's NoveList readers' advisory product into Polaris 3.0.

Presents the opinion of the author that most integrated library systems, as they are configured and used in 2003, should be removed from public view. Important role of the integrated library system as a key piece of infrastructure of a library; Comment that the central problem of library catalog systems is that they include only information about the books and journals held by a particular library; Failure of catalogs to allow patrons to discover all the books that are available to them; Recommendations for an information system that helps users find all different kinds of resources.

Discusses issues of privacy in library computing. How the advent of the Internet has changed computing; Privacy issues related to electronic mail; Examples of situations in which library computers were used for illegal activities; Question of how much privacy in Internet usage should be afforded to library users; Outlook for library computing.

Announces that the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) is conducting an organized marketing campaign to increase library use and numbers of cardholders. Discussion of the strategy and theme of the campaign, "The Best Things in Life Are Still Free"; Way that library automation created the need for all library cards to be reissued to library users; Customer service survey which was conducted by the library, and which found that some who did not use the library were not aware of library services; Details of library finance at the LAPL.

This section offers ideas for librarians on library management. Pencils are usually provided for library patrons, but more often than not, patrons forgot to return them. One way of reminding patrons to return the pencil is to put a box at the check out counter with a sign saying "Please return borrowed pencils here." This simple idea was instituted with much success at the Long Beach Public Library in California. A librarian at Xavier High School Students' Library in New York has also suggested that libraries should also provide full services for its students. The services should also include first-aid assistance for emergency purposes. The application of a computerized list of vertical file subject heading has proven to be very useful in Montay College Library in Chicago, Illinois. The use of the computerized system provides an efficient way for patrons to search for a subject heading. With the use of automated systems, an online telephone gazetteer was established at the Greater Victoria Public Library in British Columbia, to help library patrons to locate books resources nearby.

Reports that the budget for the Ontario (Canada) libraries has been raised by $1.5 million, with the new funds to be used for automation projects to improve services to patrons throughout the province. Details of the allocation of the funds; Reasons for the increase.

Reports on the success of the dial-in catalog access at the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) in Ohio. Way that CPL is the first public library in the U.S. to offer a service linking personal computers with the online library catalog; Plans of the library to add another eight phone lines to the service, due to its popularity among library users; Agreement of the trustees of the CPL to a long-range capital plan which will change the main library's physical arrangement and service delivery system.

Reports that Anchorage Municipal Libraries in Alaska has selected DRA to upgrade its library automation powers. What the contract stipulates; Description of the Anchorage public library system; The system housing the largest special collection of Alaska-related material.