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The residents of King Country, Washington, who turn to the justice system for help face many challenges. They must overcome barriers linked to information and legal literacy, economic limits, and access to computers and the Internet. There's been an explosion of available resources on the Web, but many come to the King County Law Library for help because they do not have Internet access at home. In Washington, county law libraries derive their authority from the state Legislature and operate as special districts. As a public law library, we provide access to legal information to judges, government officials, attorneys, and members of the general public.We believed that opening a training center would accomplish a number of goals and objectives, including fulfilling goals in the library's strategic and technological plans to enhance the role of the library's staff as teachers and trainers, to provide a setting for formal and informal learning opportunities geared to the needs of self-represented litigants, and to make the resources of the library's Web site available for patrons to use in-house as well as from remote locations.

The article offers information on online resources for legal issues that affect libraries. The American Library Association Web site has a page devoted to federal legislative issues such as Internet access, radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, copyright and digital rights management. Librarian and lawyer Bryan M. Carson, has created a Web site that provides documents related to library law. The iTunes service offers a set of links to podcasts from institutions of higher education about legal issues surrounding technology.

The article offers information on podcasts, a technology which offers library patrons up-to-date business news and think pieces, in audio format. Podcasts' increasing popularity is partly due to their ability to bring recent issues to listeners and their portability. Podcasts also allow people to interact with a community of experts and enthusiasts, through their accompanying Web sites and blogs, which are dynamic and encourage interaction, commentary and knowledge sharing. Podcasts can be acquired in several ways. The first is to go directly to the podcast's Web page or blog site and download the file. A much easier way is to use aggregator or podcatcher software. In terms of evaluating a business podcast before purchasing, it should be done in a manner similar to books and Web sites.

This article discusses the potential of social software in libraries. An article by Thomas Frey discusses the future of libraries. It covers the changing roles of libraries as a result of current trends and technologies. Frey's recommendations for those concerned about the future of libraries include evaluating the library experience from the patron's viewpoint, embracing new technologies, preserving community memories, and experimenting with creative spaces. Software used to create online communities is described as social software. These tools include Weblogs, wikis, and chat.

This article discusses need of libraries for secure Web sites. Like any other organization that performs its business on the Web, libraries also need the security provided by Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). While a library's basic Web site and online catalog functions do not need enhanced security, it is important to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for the transactions that involve sensitive information. It is also needed when patrons are required to enter personal details such as addresses, telephone numbers, usernames, and/or passwords. Some of the online catalogs on the market today do not use SSL by default, even when processing these personalization features. Administrators of these systems may have to do extra work to ensure that these transactions function securely. Current trends clearly indicate that security threats on the Web will continue to increase and to intensify. To deal with this reality, it is important that librarians make appropriate use of the available technologies in order to protect their patrons' personal information. PKI and digital certificates are just some of the basic components that librarians can employ to strengthen their site's security and to help them earn their patrons' trust.

The article provides information on the convergence of interlibrary loan management and local collections. The functions of the interlibrary loan department continue to play a key role in satisfying patron needs and the advent of digital libraries has, if anything, increased demand for materials not found on library shelves. As online interlibrary loan grows, it becomes another feature on complex Web pages that already offer many options for the patron's consideration. Users who have access at a glance whether an item is available in print, online or both. Librarians pioneered the concept of resource sharing the print-only era. The instant gratification of the open Web has increased user interest in quick turnaround and delivery, even when they are seeking rare or print-only materials. With Web-based consortial lending and document delivery bundled together, users are much more likely to receive an electronic copy and to print it locally. When users confront a vast array of electronic journals, all of which look different and require different search strings, they often get frustrated. As off-site storage facilities digitize their holdings for electronic loan, the balance between print copies that are mailed and electronic copies that are e-mailed is changing.

Every library where I have worked has held fundraisers, mostly book sales that were sometimes combined with bake sales. In Monroeville, we are lucky to have an active Friends of the Library group that takes care of the annual used book sale, which brings people to us in droves during that weekend. Both of these events raise money, but if we depended entirely on them, our budget would be very small. Perhaps even greater than the amount of money they raise is the value of bringing people into the library. The Library Support Staff.com Web site has a section titled "See what others have done," which offers links to some interesting ideas for library fundraisers. I found that some of the links were not working, but I did successfully follow the link to the Nova Scotia Provincial Library to learn of its fund-raising activities and to see an article in Urban Parks online that discussed "affinity groups" that worked to raise funds for the San Francisco Public Library.

Discusses ways to increase the usability of a library's web site. Criteria that make a library web site more usable; General information web sites that are a good place to start learning the basics of web site usability; Customer satisfaction that increases with improved web site usability; Usability standards that also mean making a library web site accessible for patrons with disabilities.

Offers suggestions for training patrons of libraries to use information technologies. How the Internet has complicated the methods used to train patrons; Examples of several Web sites which offer instructions for using the Internet, including sites from Ziff-Davis, Inc. and Freeskills; Opinion that librarians need to be educated about the Internet.

The article offers library computer laboratory tips for library employees. A baseline set of expectations should be established to help clarify things between staff and patrons and between staff and management. Information on the laboratory computers could be provided on a special page on the library's website. Additional computer tools can be used by staff members to help them learn about the capabilities of some Internet and technology tools that in turn, would help patrons. Web sites could also explain technology terms to help users understand them.

Focuses on the content of library Web sites and the types of changes involving content on a library Web site over the course of its development. Creation of content by people in the organization who have the most experience; Phase in which the Web site is becoming database-driven; Way that the progression of a Web site can allow it to better serve library patrons.

This section offers information on several online articles on the need for computer laboratories in libraries. One discussed on the need for computer labs in educational institutions despite the heavy use of technology by students. Another focused on the MaintainIT Project, a 3-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which gathers technology success stories from public libraries. One introduced WebJunction, a website which provide assistance to librarians in libraries that provide public computer access.

Offers advice about how libraries can monitor the use of their Web sites. Insight that can be gained by examining server and patron data; Log files that are automatically produced; Software products that perform detailed analysis of Web server logs; Use patterns that are understood by manually reading through the file; Recommendation that libraries make their Web sites more dynamic by setting up communication channels with users, such as a Web form or mail link for comments and suggestions; Database application logs; Advice that librarians continually monitor usage data in order to understand how visitors interact with available resources.