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'Bricks without straw' is an expression that means to make do with insufficient resources. It is also an apt description of the challenges facing the Chicago Public Library during the [...]

The library literature of the early twentieth century records the issues and concerns of librarians as they struggled to develop responses to the changes caused by urbanization, war, and industrialization. [...]

Music Librarianship at the Turn of the Century. Edited by Richard Griscom and Amanda Maple. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2000. 107 pp. $26.50 (paper). ISBN 0- 8108-3866-4. This slim volume [...]

This article acts as an introduction to digital collections that can be used to locate images relating to American history. A discussion of the use of search engines, image databases, subscription services, local online catalogs, and print indexes to images is presented. Technology has changed the way in which historians view and search for historical images from the past. Several features of search engines are compared. Summaries of databases that provide access to historical images are listed. Some institutions have shared their information in an effort to decentralize collections of historical images. Some strategies are suggested for locating images in print resources. Also included is contact information for visual organizations and discussion groups.

The article examines the response of the Chicago Public Library to the financial challenges faced during the Great Depression in the U.S. during the 1930s. The effects of increased unemployment on library use, demands on library hours, and library staffing are discussed and the effect of budget cuts on library priorities is explored. The impact of reduced book budgets on circulation, appeals to the public for financial support, and dependence on state aid are also discussed. Comparisons between the effect of the Depression and the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 on U.S. public libraries are explored.

This section provides information on bibliographies in history published in 2003 and 2004 which were considered outstanding by the Reference and User Services Association History Section Bibliography and Indexes Committee. The volume Black Populism in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography, by Anthony J. Adam and Gerald H. Gaither, describes resources documenting African Americans' participation in the populist movement. While the depth of treatment suggests a scholarly audience, the annotations help make the work accessible. The book The Pawnee Nation: An Annotated Research Bibliography, by Judith A. Boughter, is a comprehensive bibliography on the Pawnee, which cites monographs, theses, scholarly and popular journal articles, as well as government documents and other sources. Extensive annotations are included. There is also a list of archival collections. The book A Bibliography of the First World War in the Far East and Southeast Asia, by Justin Corfield, aims to fill in the gaps for an aspect of World War I which has to a large extent, been overlooked, or has taken second place to the action in Europe and the Middle East. Included are nearly fifteen hundred references to books, magazine and journal articles, newspaper reports, manuscripts, and unpublished theses and dissertations, including some materials in Western European and Asian languages, in addition to English.