ALA TechSource Logo
 
curve Home spacer Publications spacer Subscribe spacer Blog spacer Gaming Symposium spacer About  
    

Home

Welcome to ALA TechSource, your source for the latest in library technology.

Latest Blog Post

Slide Decks: Dazzling or Drowsy?

Submitted by Cindi Trainor on September 2, 2010 - 8:44am

Death by Powerpoint.  You’ve seen it; we’ve all been there. You saunter into a conference session, drawn in by the succinct abstract, the scintillating topic.  It only takes a scant few minutes to decide you’ve made a terrible mistake, that it does not matter what words come out of the speaker’s mouth: if you don’t leave immediately, snoozing will ensue.

Here are some tips to transform your slides from a crutch into what they’re supposed to be: a visual aid.
Read More »


Library Technology Reports

The Concept of Electronic Resource Usage and Libraries

As any librarian knows, libraries of all size and type invest a significant portion of their budgets in the acquisition of electronic resources.  In addition to implementing and administering these resources, ibrarians are responsible for analyzing and demonstrating their cost-effectiveness.

In the August/September issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 46; no. 6), Rachel Fleming-May and Jill Grogg cover state of the art of electronic resources use measurement, offering guidance on presenting clear and meaningful measurement in research, assessment, and standards creation.

Topics Covered Include: Read More »

Smart Libraries Newsletter

September 2010

This month’s lead story illustrates real-world examples of some broader industry trends and how they manifest themselves in areas like business and technology. The research for this article was a fascinating exercise in tracing the roots of products familiar today back to the earlier era of library automation history that spanned multiple continents. Through this story, we can also see the way that a product initially created for a specific library takes hold regionally, nationally, and internationally. It has been an interesting process to untangle the antecedent products and companies, the technology issues, and even lawsuits involved in the background behind the launch of a new library automation system named Evolve.

--Marshall Breeding

Also in this issue:
Read More »