 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.
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 Texting. The cloud. E-books. Location-based services. Mobile devices, virtual worlds, microblogging, wikis, social media, and so on. What do these things have in common? They have all taken their turn as “the next big thing.” There’s never a been a shortage of up-and-coming library technologies, but while some prove to be revolutionary, others flame out just as quickly. Confusing matters even more, the next big thing might pan out great for Library A, but crash and burn for Library B. We all work with limited resources, so when we invest in a new tool or service, we want confidence our time and funds go towards something lasting and useful (rather than a lot of hype).
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If your job involves working with digital content, your need to make sense of interoperable digital information by managing resources with care and quality metadata and by connecting users to resources—and resources to  resources—is greater than ever. In the May issue of Library Technology Reports, Michael Witt helps you do just that. If you are an Electronic Resources Librarian, Digital Archivist or work with Digital Catalogs in any capacity, this report is a must-read for you. Read More »
 We live in the age of cell phones, iPads and netbooks, where gadgets are everywhere, and many people use one at nearly every waking moment. The newest gadgets don't often come cheap, and a poor investment can be costly for an institution like a library.
In the April issue of Library Technology Reports, eminent blogger and library technology expert Jason Griffey provides a comprehensive guide to the present and future of modern gadgets, and how they can fit in to any librarian's plan for a high-tech future. From eReaders to cameras and audio recorders to the iPad, Jason provides insight into what these devices can do, how much they cost, and how librarians can use them to enhance their facilities and service.
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Library data has been designed to be read and interpreted by librarians and users. Although there are some controlled data fields, most of what is in the library catalog entry is text. The machine as user has not gotten a great deal of attention  in the library cataloging environment. Now there’s yet another potential user of library data, and that user is the Web and services that function on the Web.
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 If there is one constant, it is that throughout these nearly two centuries, the modern library has continually transformed itself in an effort to respond to the needs of its contemporary user. Read More »
 Over the last few years, Web services and the service-oriented architecture (SOA) have become dominant themes in IT across many industries. Web-based computing, serviceorientation, and cloud computing increasingly displace the client/server approach favored by libraries in the past.
In library automation, one major trend involves evolving or rebuilding automation systems to adopt this new approach to software. Purveyors of both open source and proprietary library automation products increasingly emphasize the ways in which they embrace openness, support application programming interfaces (APIs), or implement Web services.
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 The concept of storytelling is older than human history itself. Before the invention of written language, wisdom, knowledge, and information were passed down orally, and often through what would today be considered stories. In one sense, storytelling has always utilized the latest available technology. Some have said that cave paintings and other ancient findings were sometimes used to tell stories. It may be hard to think about prehistoric drawings on a cave wall as a form of technology, but at the dawn of human civilization, they were just that. Read More »
 In the past fifteen years, the World Wide Web has become such a major part of the library world that most libraries now have some presence on the Web. This issue of Library Technology Reports explores the idea of the digital branch—a library website that is a vital, functional resource for patrons and enhances the library’s place within its community. The report outlines an efficient process for creating a digital branch, from the initial phases of gathering information and sketching out a design, to winning approval from management, hiring qualified IT staff, and maintaining and upgrading the site once it is built. Throughout the report, the author regularly uses his experience at his own library as an example of how the process can unfold and what pitfalls to avoid. Read More »
2008 may be remembered as the year in which gaming became just like any other service in libraries, with librarians implementing gaming initiatives that look very much like those we already offer for books, movies, music, and computers for as varied an audience as other library services are offered. As gaming in libraries has become more of a mainstream service, rather than a curious exception, anecdotal evidence has appeared on mailing lists, in newspaper articles, in conference presentations, and on blog posts, and general themes have begun to emerge. Overall, it’s clear that there are some common lessons libraries are learning from implementing gaming, and as with everything else in our profession, librarians want to share those lessons with their colleagues.
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