When my local public library to an online catalog from a company called Bibliocommons, it now requires library users who want to place a book on hold to register with that company, which then keeps track of everything they have checked out. This is a …
“Discovery Tools” were being pushed for libraries as being better than a traditional online catalog because they could incorporate websites and magazine articles into the search. What sounds good turned out to be a mess, and academic libraries in particular saw big declines in library …
How Does Switching to a Discovery Tool Affect Circulation? Read More
A piece that appeared in Library Journal arguing that the often repeated truism “librarians are forbidden from giving tax help to patrons” is untrue, and that proving this help can be a real service to the poor. BackTalk: Tax Help at the Library | Library …
This book was written with Bob Cooper, another librarian. From the days when Excel was still fairly new, it taught librarians how to use Excel and apply the program to studying use patterns of their collection. Unfortunately for the book, but fortunately for Excel users, …
Shortly after President George W Bush launched the second war on Iraq (2003), which was officially done to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. At almost the same time, an article titled “Why We Didn’t Remove Saddam” written by his father, President George H.W. Bush and …
“Diversity and the MLS” was written for Library Journal in 2008. It argues that one of the major reasons few people of color become librarians is the expense of obtaining the Masters of Library Science degree that almost all professional jobs require. Library Journal told …
“What not to buy” is an academic study that resulted from a short sabbatical. Since many books in academic libraries are never used, I wanted to see if those books shared characteristics that buyers could keep an eye out for and only purchase carefully, saving …
What Not to Buy: How to Identify Books Likely to be Unused Before Purchase Read More
This is an analysis of an experiment I led at Portland Community College library to see if having all required textbooks available on reserves was a workable project. The short version is that, with some adjustments, yes. This was my most successful scholarly article, receiving …
All Textbooks in the Library! An Experiment with Library Reserves Read More
