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This article analyzes the aging of academic librarians and the potential shortage of librarians to replace those who are retiring. Recent statistics indicate that the exodus of retiring librarians may not be as severe as predicted several years ago. Recent articles show potential benefits as new librarians enter the workforce in large numbers to replace those who are leaving. New managers are bringing new ideas and new challenges. A few possible solutions to the problem of managerial recruitment and replacement are also discussed.

Legal issues have increasingly come to the forefront in academic libraries in recent years. Most of these issues involve The Rehabilitation Act, Section 504 (1973) or Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), complaints related to discriminatory practices with regard to accommodations or assistive technologies. This article provides a brief synopsis of the particular clauses within the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) (ADA) pertaining to academic libraries and explains these clauses in clear lay terms. Office of Civil Rights complaints and court cases to illustrate the legal ramifications of the ADA for libraries are discussed. This article focuses on some of the cases that are most pertinent to issues related to providing appropriate accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Problem resolution strategies for resolving 504 and ADA complaints are suggested.

Principles of universal design become increasingly important as librarians add information literacy courses and other instructional modules. Issues of access in higher education may be reframed as issues of the design of the inclusive classroom environment. This allows for the spectrum of multiple intelligences and learning modalities to be addressed, as well as the broad diversity that contemporary learners and teachers bring to the classroom experience, live or delivered through distance education. Using the principles of universal design (UD), this paper addresses the manner in which a course may be front-loaded to achieve maximum understanding on the part of the learner as to the expected learning environment and requirements, as well as expected outcomes and assessment practices.

This article describes the characteristics of patrons with learning disabilities (LD) and how these characteristics might affect library use. The lack of services for college patrons who have learning disabilities (LD) in this decade is much like the lack of adequate and appropriate services for high school patrons with LD in previous decades. The old notion that patrons would somehow outgrow LD is still pervasive. The National Learning Disabilities Association definition of LD describes specific LD as a "chronic condition." Even though some individuals are fairly successful at adopting compensatory mechanisms, they will continue to deal with their specific learning disabilities throughout their lives. Educators are obligated to provide for the needs of patrons with LD across the life span. Given the characteristics of patrons with LD, these patrons must be provided with assistive technology (AT) in order to utilize library resources on an equal basis with their nondisabled peers. AT includes both technologies and special services. (Contains 1 table.)

Libraries have never been stable or static. They are inevitably designed for one information vessel and have to learn to accommodate a new one. Scrolls became codices, and books were augmented with vinyl records, VHS tapes, and CDs. The only difference in trying to manage technology now, as opposed to then, is that change comes so much more quickly. Library administrators must strive to develop an attitude among librarians that change is the new stability. This article examines some of the effective strategies that have been adopted by libraries to deal with managing technology in a constantly changing environment.

Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that programs and services be accessible to people with disabilities. While schools of library and information science (SLIS*) and university libraries should model accessible Web sites, this may not be the case. This article examines previous studies about the Web accessibility of SLIS Web sites and university library Web sites supporting SLIS and builds on these studies by providing current data about SLIS opportunities for learning about accessible products and services for individuals with disabilities. This study looks at the nation's 12 highest-ranked SLIS and at their disability-related curricula. A WebXACT-compliance check is used to determine World Wide Web (W3C) compliance for SLIS and the main libraries. A survey is distributed to the SLIS to determine disability curricular offerings. A Web search of SLIS course descriptions for these schools provides clarification about course offerings. The compliance check gives cause for concern. The survey results indicate that most SLIS programs offer disability instruction: Specifically most SLIS programs offer instruction of Web accessibility. The mixed results from the survey and the compliance check might indicate that the individuals that are responsible for Web design on these campuses are not knowledgeable about W3C standards. The fact that SLIS students are being taught appropriate accessibility standards should indicate that the future of Web accessibility is brighter. (*SLIS is used as a generic term throughout the article to refer to all library science, library and information science, information science, and other similar programs.) (Contains 4 tables and 1 note.)

One issue that public librarians must consider when planning Web site design is accessibility for patrons with disabilities. This article reports a study of Web site accessibility of public libraries in Georgia. The focus of the report is whether public libraries use accessible guidelines and standards in making their Web sites accessible. An e-mail survey asked each of the 58 library systems to respond to statements that propose accessible guidelines. The authors decided to follow up the survey by using the WebEXACT tool to corroborate the survey and to provide more specific information about the modifications that are needed. This tool offers suggestions for accessibility that should serve to decrease the number of pages that are inaccessible to patrons. The results from the survey and from the WebEXACT check both indicate many strengths as well as weaknesses.

This article is about the information needs and information-seeking behaviors of community college and lower division undergraduates. The students in the studies were either four year lower division or community college students. The majority of the students studied were average college age students between eighteen and twenty two-years old. A few studies considered students that were older than the average college age. These were important to include because more and more students are older when they begin, or decide to go back, to college.

The Council on Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) libraries websites were assessed for Section 508 errors using the online WebXACT tool. Only three of the twenty-one institutions (14%) had zero accessibility errors. Eighty-six percent of the COPLAC institutions had an average of 1.24 errors. Section 508 compliance is required for institutions receiving federal funding. While this study shows the need to correct the existing errors, the low error rate shows that COPLAC institutions have generally been conscious of accessibility standards and are working toward achieving fully accessible websites. Studies of the connections between average accessibility errors and the geographic locations of these institutions, the amount of federal funding received, and size were inconclusive. The main aim of the study is to demonstrate the need to check library websites using the free WebXACT tool. This tool offers suggestions for accessibility that should serve to decrease the number of pages that are inaccessible to patrons. (Contains 2 notes and 3 tables.)

This study provides an overview of the various products available for library patrons with blindness or visual impairments. To provide some insight into the status of library services for patrons with blindness, a sample of American universities that are recognized for their programs for students with visual impairments was surveyed to discern which assistive technology products are available in their libraries. The results of the study are analyzed and conclusions are offered.

Disaster preparedness is an important issue in library management today. This article presents a general overview of the theoretical aspects of disaster planning in libraries. The stages of disaster planning are a circular process of planning, prevention, response, recovery, preparedness, and training.

Many patrons of libraries have one or more print disabilities that partially or totally impair their ability to use standard print. However, many devices and services are available to aid patrons who can not use print in the conventional manner. This paper provides an overview of typical assistive technology devices and services available to students with print disabilities. Barriers to access and solutions to these barriers are also discussed. In addition, original research results are presented from a survey of two-year college libraries of the University System of Georgia. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study discusses assistive technology (AT) for student with disabilities in academic libraries. An expert panel, using the Delphi Technique, recognized adequate funding, training opportunities, AT evaluation, and including individuals with disabilities in AT decision making as being some of the primary issues. (Author/LRW)

OUR LABELED CHILDREN: What Every Parent and Teacher Needs To Know About Learning Disabilities. R. Sternberg & E. L. Grigorenko. Reading, MA: Perseus, 1999. 288 pp. $25.00. Sternberg and Grigorenko, [...]