"It does not matter at all how wonderful you are, how much service you provide, or what a great manager you are, if you do not have the budget under control. That really is the story. That really is, in the final analysis, how you will be evaluated.”– A long-tenured ARL library director to a new library director....Read more

Thirty years ago, a library consortium for which I worked was in dire financial straits. As I recall, we had a six million dollar budget and a three million dollar deficit. These numbers are so staggering that they seem unbelievable. But I remember clearly the words of the president of our organization as he addressed staff in this hour of crisis: “You will never manage as well as when you are operating under constrained resources.” This observation has echoed in my ears many times during my career.....Read more

Many librarians have experienced the pain of losing access to online journal content when it changes from one publisher to another. Often librarians are not even aware that journals are moving publisher until they hear from angry users. Other problems encountered after journal transfers include losing access to archives, differing access rights and establishing correct subscription information.....Read more

As readers are confronted with an evergrowing and ever more overwhelming set of content offerings, accessible through an ever-multiplying set of channels and services, one hears a great deal of concern about the ability to identify “trustworthy” information. It’s clear that a key critical skill for the 21st century is the ability to assess the “trustworthiness” of information.....Read more

David Shumaker, a clinical associate professor and the director of the Information Commons at the School of Library and Information Science at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, won SLA’s 2009 Vormelker Award for mentoring library and information science students. As this issue’s theme is “Supporting Early Career Researchers,” we’ve asked David to share some comments about his work and any wisdom he may have for information professionals in the early stages of their careers.....Read more

Interested in learning more about embedded library and information services? Check out David Shumaker’s blog: The Embedded Librarian Shumaker is a faculty member at the School of Library and Information Science at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and formerly worked in Information Services at the MITRE Corporation. Recent topics have included “What’s the ROI of embedded librarianship?” and “Can introverts succeed as embedded librarians?”....Read more

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) provides several robust resources for librarians interested in honing their marketing efforts. The site links to both current and foundational materials, containing core concepts of marketing that will help academic/research librarians.Marketing @ your librarywww.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/issues/marketing/index.cfm Highlights include:....Read more

Each spring, Best Practices for Government Libraries puts out its call for submissions, and government librarians — along with others who have something of interest to share with that community — get writing. As the Senior Information Professional for Government at LexisNexis, I am constantly learning about innovative and noteworthy efforts in government library environments. Best Practices showcases those efforts and facilitates the exchange of information about significant initiatives and innovations in federal, state, local, military and court libraries.....Read more

At Albertsons Library being user-centered is at the heart of our decision-making. We focus our collective staff energy on what our users want and need. How do we know? We ask them. In focus groups, in LibQual surveys, at the reference desk, and in course evaluations - we ask, we listen and we act on their requests. A new suite of services....Read more