1. In the past, the creators and users of catalogs
thought of them as local tools. Discuss the implications of the
extension of catalogs beyond local collections, through online
methods, for the people who make catalogs and those who use them.
2. A continuing decrease in financial support
and an exponential growth of information in various formats have
changed the role of staff in libraries, archives, and information
centers. Discuss the nature of these staff changes and the ways
in which managers can best prepare, utilize, and adapt personnel
to meet these challenges.
3. Recently, various initiatives have focused
on parental concerns about their children's reading and viewing.
Discuss the issues involved and the rights and responsibilities
of parents, children, and librarians in determining children's
access to information resources.
4. Describe how changes in databases, networking,
user interfaces, and pricing affect end user searching. Discuss
the implications of end user searching for librarians.
5. The stated goal of many libraries, museums,
archives, and information centers is to preserve the records of
civilization. Select two of these four types of information organizations
listed, and discuss similarities and differences in how they attempt
to accomplish this goal. Include both technical and administrative
aspects in your answer.
6. Describe how Web pages differ from other
electronic information resources, such as online and CDROM
databases. Discuss the implications of these differences for how
we organize and provide access to Web pages.
7. Recently, a number of cities, including
San Francisco, have constructed new central library buildings.
Coinciding with the era of electronic information, these building
suggest a continuing role for the library as a physical place."
Describe the various roles played by libraries as physical places,
and discuss how these roles may be affected by electronic access
to information.
8. As a newly appointed head of collection
development, you have decided to formulate an appropriate and
uptodate collection development policy embodying the
library's new interest in access as well as ownership. Identify
the type of library in which you are working. Describe the issues
to be addressed when formulating such a collection development
policy. Discuss the ways in which the policy will reflect new
formats of information and methods of access.
9. In 1995, the American Library Association
adopted a revised code of ethics. Describe the major changes embodied
in the new version and the central values retained from the 1981
Statement on Professional Ethics. Discuss the applicability of
the 1995 code to the changing information environment.
10. It has been suggested that researchers
in the future will publish their works on the Internet and bypass
scholarly journals altogether. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of such a system of scholarly communication from the perspective
of scholars, publishers, and librarians.
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