Chronicle: After Losing Users in Catalogs, Libraries Find Better Search Software

The Chronicle of Higher Education also has an article about the future of academic libraries. The University of Virginia and other major universities are adopting more user-friendly search software for their online catalogs. Should library catalogs adopt a more Google approach to keywords and indexing?

You may also want to read this article, "For Sale: a Truly Academic Collection," a former college president who has amassed almost 3000 volumes about higher education in his personal collection! He even has some out-of-print and rare books. A very interesting article.

Note: Some of these articles may require a subscription to access the full text. You can check out more Chronicle news articles about libraries here.

InsideHigherEd: (Academic) Libraries of the Future

InsideHigherEd has a news feature about the future of academic libraries. I know it's a few days old (I've been very busy with schoolwork and other unexpected changes in my schedule!) that I thought it was a great article to share. Now this is my question to readers here:

Do you agree with this statement below?

"The university library of the future will be sparsely staffed, highly decentralized, and have a physical plant consisting of little more than special collections and study areas."

If you are interested in more library-related and information policy, check out these links below:

• BLOG: Keywords from a Librarian
  
• Open Letter on Open Access (September 23, 2009)
  
• Speak Now, or Forever Hold Your Copyrights! (Google) (September 4, 2009)
  
• Brand New, Again (Cambridge University Press) (August 3, 2009)
  
• The Equal Opportunity Library (July 30, 2009)
  
• The Interdisciplinary Science Library (June 17, 2009)

Public Libraries in Philadelphia May Shut Down

I think this situation is very unfortunate. The public library system in Philadelphia faces shutdown because the state government has been unable to balance their budget. This may not sound like major news, but many public library branches act as community centers for local neighborhoods.

While the library closures bring the obvious hardship of no access to free books, movies, music, newspapers, and magazines, there are bigger losses than that.

The closing of every library means that kids who go to the library after school while waiting for mom and dad to come home from work won’t have that constructive haven.

It also means that job seekers won’t have free resources and computer classes to help them get back on their feet. And anyone trying to improve his life with the GED, Adult Basic Education or English as a Second Language programs will have to find another way to do it.

I hope the Pennsylvania state government solves this situation very soon. As a graduate student attending an ALA-accredited school, libraries are important to all communities -- youth, adults, and the underprivileged.

[UPDATE 9/21/09: The Pennsylvania state Senate passed a budget vote that will prevent the layoffs of over 3000 city workers and the closures of all public libraries in the city of Philadelphia. This is fantastic news!]