Illinois Initiatives and Referenda

SUMMARY

This article explains Illinois' restricted use of initiatives and referenda. Statewide initiatives are advisory only except for those amending the constitution; there is no process for creating statutes via initiatives. Advisory initiatives have been historically ignored by the legislature and therefore become less common over time. There are no statewide referenda in Illinois. Both binding and advisory referenda and initiatives are used by local governments enacting ordinances, and the former are often statutorily mandated. Because of Illinois' strong home rule system and the scattered nature of statutes addressing initiatives and referenda, research in this area can be difficult. An appendix of resources is included.     

Utah Initiatives and Referenda: A Research Guide

SUMMARY

Utah's constitution guarantees its citizens the right to participate in the legislative process through direct and indirect initiatives and referenda. This article provides researchers with a history of Utah's initiatives and referenda, an overview of the process, and a list of secondary and primary sources that can be consulted when researching in this area.     

Initiatives and Referenda in Wyoming

SUMMARY

Researching initiatives and referenda in Wyoming is fascinating, partly because Wyoming was one of the first states to consider the option of initiatives for its citizens. This makes for an interesting history. Wyoming is also unique in that it has the most stringent initiative requirements in the country, which makes for an elaborate and rigid process. The result is a limited number of successful ballot measures and a collection of honest attempts. Fortunately, researching Wyoming initiatives and referenda is not as difficult as getting them passed. An annotated bibliography is included with helpful Wyoming-specific resources.     

Researching Initiatives and Referenda: A Guide for Nevada

SUMMARY

The Nevada Constitution provides voters with the ability to propose new statutes, amendments to existing statutes, and amendments to the State constitution through the initiative petition process. Voters can also approve or disapprove of existing statutes through the referendum petition process. Both require the circulation of a petition to collect a minimum number of signatures before the Secretary of State will place the measures on the ballot for the general election. As with other topics of law, Nevada has a profound shortage of research resources on initiatives and referenda, but State law and government Web sites provide enough information to allow for significant research.     

Researching Initiatives and Referenda: A Guide for Missouri

SUMMARY

This research guide is intended for those wishing to explore the history and develop a basic understanding of the initiative and referenda petition process in Missouri. The I&R process attracted national attention when Missouri's controversial Constitutional Amendment 2 dealing with stem cell research appeared on the ballot in the 2006 general election. Recently, there have been efforts to overturn this petition which narrowly passed. Hopefully, this guide will provide background and suggest paper and electronic resources for those wishing to study the process and determine what “paper trail” is available for initiatives and referendum in Missouri.     

Electronic Reserves at Fort Lewis College Using Innovative Interfaces,Millennium Integrated Library System

Abstract

The John F. Reed Library at Fort Lewis College (FLC) implemented Electronic Reserves in the fall semester, 2003. FLC is a four-year liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado, with just over 4,000 students. Staff members use the Innovative Interfaces, Millennium Integrated Library System with the Course Reserves module along with Adobe Acrobat for scanning documents. The case study provides information on getting started, management of the project, necessary documentation, copyright concerns, implementation, statistics, and future directions.     

Publishers' Errors Make Catalogers [sic]: An Analysis of the Error Indicators [sic] and [i.e.] in Cataloging

ABSTRACT

Over the past year and a half, Colorado State University Libraries has used the Program in Cooperative Cataloging's (PCC) core record standard when cataloging non-depository and pre-1976 federal documents. Although the Libraries is not a PCC member, and so not involved in its Bibliographic Record Cooperative Program (BIBCO) it began experimenting with this standard as a means to facilitate a more efficient way of cataloging federal documents. This paper provides background to the Libraries' decision to use the core standard; describes the core cataloging standard, noting especially PCC's emphasis on the importance of the cataloger's judgement in applying the standard; and comments on the Libraries' use and assessment of core cataloging.     

Initiatives and Referenda in Michigan: A Research Guide

SUMMARY

Initiatives and referenda are a key part of the democratic process in Michigan, but they are one of the most difficult types of legal materials to research. This guide provides an overview of the history of the I&R process in Michigan, a general outline of how the process works, and a selected list of resources, both primary and secondary, that provide valuable information for researchers seeking to explore this important part of Michigan's legislative system.     

Interlibrary Lending as an Alternative Means to Improve Resource-Poor Ghanaian Libraries

ABSTRACT

The importance of science and technology information in technological advancement and research and development is obvious. It contributes directly to economic development of a country. The paper highlights major problems facing Ghanaian academic and research libraries in their attempt to provide science and technology information. These include poor collections, inadequate funding, a lack of hard currency for ordering needed documents, a lack of trained manpower, poor communication networks, lack of cooperation among existing libraries and no firm government policies to support initiatives.

The paper describes international initiatives and efforts including the IFLA/DANIDA Interlending and Document Delivery Project aimed at establishing global electronic links in order to improve availability of publications and information, which will lead to information transfer and ultimately to development. A training programme organized for six Ghanaian librarians in the United Kingdom and Denmark is described.

It is concluded that access to online databases in the developed countries is essential since it provides the most up-to-date information. It is recommended that communications infrastructure be installed so that Ghanaian libraries can access scientific and technology information held in the developed countries.     

Recording the war effort: immigrant communities in Latin America and the memory of the Great War

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to analyse the initiatives undertaken by some immigrant communities residing in Latin America to record their mobilisation around the First World War. After the armistice, European communities in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and other countries gathered detailed information about their activities during the conflict, published as profusely illustrated books of remembrance, offered to their governments as proof of their loyalty. The article intends to establish the peculiar nature of these publications as records of the war effort, and analyse the agents and processes of their elaboration, and their role as commemorative but also as archival documents.     

E-Mail Reference

Summary

This article begins by summarizing national findings of e-mail reference services in academic and public libraries. It next describes types of e-mail reference services as well as commonalities, differences, appearance of the question form, audience, and turnaround time for selected Colorado libraries. The article then focuses on giving a detailed overview and analysis of two years of Colorado State University's e-mail reference experiences. The number, type of question, who/where the questions come from, and to whom the questions are sent are examined. The unexpected uses of the service are identified. Lastly, broader issues to do with e-mail reference services are discussed. This article is based on a presentation given at the Internet Librarian2000 conference.     

The heart of the matter: academic and public libraries adapt to pandemics through time and technology

Abstract

Delaney Daly is earning a Master of Library Science degree at the Texas Woman’s University School of Library and Information Studies. She will graduate in December of 2020 and works at Vail Public Library in Vail, Colorado.     

Instruction and Outreach at Colorado State University Libraries

Summary

The Colorado State University Libraries' instructional outreach services have undergone significant changes since the reorganization of Reference Services in January of 1998. The new organizational structure created a separate group for instruction, outreach and staff training, which includes the extended university programs position (distance learning), and a new position, the undergraduate instruction librarian. This new group gives the Libraries an avenue in which to provide focused instruction to the Colorado State University community and limited outreach to campus affiliates and the Fort Collins community. This article discusses outreach activities before and after the reorganization including services to specific populations such as African Americans, Hispanics, distance learning populations and extension services, undergraduates, and disabled students.     

Researching Oregon Initiatives and Referendums

SUMMARY

Oregon voters are heavy users of the initiative and referendum, and they were pioneers of this form of democracy. This means that there is a good deal of information to be found about past initiatives and referendums, and the government of the State of Oregon and local civic groups have responded by making much of this information available online. This article outlines the sources for finding information on initiatives and referendums in Oregon.     

High-Density Off-Site Storage: Document Delivery and Academic Library Research Collections

ABSTRACT

This article describes a high-density off-site book storage facility operated by a consortium of the University of Colorado and the University of Denver. Opened in 2001, it has capacity to house nearly 1.5 million items in only 9,500 square feet by shelving books by size on thirty-foot tall shelving. Materials are retrieved upon patrons' electronic request and delivered to the library daily. By removing seldom-used material to off-site storage, valuable library space is made available for patron-service activities. As millions of volumes are moved off-site in favor of on-demand delivery, the nature of the research library will change. This article describes the high-density off-site storage facility at the University of Colorado, the reason for its existence, the retrieval and delivery system. This paper also explores some implications of high-density off-site storage for library materials.     

Building an ethical digital humanities community: Librarian,faculty, and student collaboration

ABSTRACT

This article examines work building a digital humanities community at Salem State University's Berry Library. The initiatives are comprised of a three-pronged approach: laying groundwork to build a DH center, building the DH project Digital Salem as a place-based locus for digital scholarship, and launching an undergraduate internship program to explore ethical ways of creating innovative research experiences for undergraduate students. Together, these initiatives constitute an important move toward putting libraries at the center of creating DH opportunities for underserved student populations and a model for building DH at regional comprehensive universities.     

Juggling a New Format with Existing Tools: Incorporating Streaming Video into Technical Services Workflows

ABSTRACT

The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Libraries have experienced a surge in streaming video requests in the past few years. Like others, UNC’s Technical Services department has found new ways to manage procedures and workflows associated with this format. This session covered the experiences and strategies of the presenters for handling streaming video databases, licensed content ripped from DVD, firm orders, and multiyear streaming licenses.     

The History and Development of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging

Abstract

Libraries, which take seriously the responsibility to facilitate discovery and delivery of information resources for their patrons, have historically found cataloging costly and cumbersome. In the early 1970s, a series of initiatives was undertaken to develop more cooperative and expeditious approaches to reducing the cost of cataloging, while improving its quality. These initiatives culminated in the formation of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging. This article is a brief history of how the Program came to be, its structure, and what might be in store for it in the future.     

Cooperative Digital Initiatives: A Prescription for Success

ABSTRACT

The author discusses the Center for Research Libraries' role in fostering collaborative projects, reports on new developments in digital initiatives and services, and points to models of cooperative projects for consideration by the Slavic information resource community.