Library and Information Studies

Library and Information Sciences Abstracts (LISA) - Abstracts and indexes 440 periodicals in twenty languages.  Online thesaurus available.  Coverage 1969 to present.

Library, Information Sciences, and Technology Abstracts - Ebsco product.  Abstracts and indexes approximately 500 "core journals" [publisher's emphasis], 50 "priority journals," 125 "selective journals", books, research reports, and proceedings.  Coverage 1984 to present, however a few may have coverage fron the mid-1960s to present.

Library Literature and Information Sciences - H.W. Wilson Product. Abstracts and indexes 390 journals, over 300 books, book chapters, conference proceedings, thesis and pamphlets.

ERIC - CSA product. Especially helpful for articles about libraries and reading in colleges and schools.

Library Literature - essential for historical research. Indexes library science journals back to 1876.

WorldCAT - since Penn State does not offer a library science program, researchers need to consult the catalogs of other university libraries. WorldCAT includes more than 10,000 libraries, including those serving the largest LIS programs.

The majority of Library and Information Studies book are found in the Library of Congress Zs.

CLASS Z - BIBLIOGRAPHY. LIBRARY SCIENCE.  INFORMATION RESOURCES (GENERAL)

Subclass Z Books (General). Writing. Paleography. Book industries and trade. Libraries. Bibliography (abridged listing)

Subclass ZA Information resources (General) (abridged listing)

For the entire Z listings  — Library of Congress Z listings

American Library Association Archives - holds archival documentation of the early years of the profession.

Bibliography of Library History - this semiannual list of books, dissertations, and journal articles updates American Library History: A Comprehensive Guide to the Literature (see below)

Center for the Book, Library of Congress - along with its state-level affiliates, the Center promotes reading through its annual Book Festival, research, and other activities.

Davies Project, Princeton University - provides founding dates, closing dates, locations, and other information for thousands of libraries existing in the U.S. before 1876. Includes college, public, social, and other kinds of libraries.

Google Book Search - contains partial text of many current books, and full-text of many historical items published before 1923.

The Kept-Up Academic Librarian - a popular blog about news in higher education, pertinent to librarians.

Library History Buff - compiled by a retired librarian from Wisconsin, this site has a lot of information about library history, and collecting "librariana" artifacts.

LISZEN - a searchable database of more than 700 library-related blogs

Melvil Dewey Papers, Columbia University - essential resource for the early history of professional librarianship. More than 100 boxes of historical documents contain much information about Dewey, his interacts with other librarians, the founding of ALA, the development of library education, and other topics.

Office of Research and Statistics, American Library Association - publishes salary surveys and other national statistics

The Researching Librarian - links to online databases, statistics, and other information for library science researchers.

80 Years of Bestsellers  - lists Publisher's Weekly's bestselling fiction and nonfiction titles for each year from 1895 to 1975.

A.L.A. Catalog ("1893", 1904-1911, 1926) - published every few years from 1893 to 1952, this was ALA's list of books recommended for libraries. Useful for assessing fiction and popular collections in their historical context.

A.L.A. Glossary of Library and Information Science - updated several times between 1943 and 1983, a helpful dictionary for old terminology.

American Library Development, 1600-1899 - a chronology of important events in all aspects of librarianship. Unfortunately, there is no counterpart for the 20th century.

American Library Directory - published since 1908, this resource lists college, governmental, public, school, and special libraries throughout the United States. Modern editions provide self-reported information about holdings, subject specialties, database subscriptions, opening hours, and more.

American Library History: A Comprehensive Guide to the Literature - an index of articles, books, and other publications about the history of libraries and librarianship.

The Bowker Annual - published under various titles since the 1950s, this yearly report includes legislative information, recommended book lists, and copious statistics about libraries, librarianship, and the book trade.

Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development - includes the definitive list of public libraries founded by Andrew Carnegie in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Dictionary of American Library Biography - brief biographies of path-breaking librarians from colonial America to the late 20th century. See also the first and second supplements, published in 1990 and 2003.

Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, 2nd edition - Not at Penn State, but a helpful starting point for almost any topic. Penn State has the 1968 edition, which has historical interest.  We have the 2nd edition. First Update supplement.

Whole Library Handbook 4 - where else can you find the most popular flooring color used in academic libraries? Provides practical tips, trivia, humor, and other "librariana" not found in other sources. See also the first, second, and third editions.

Below are a few of the more prominent journals in the field of Library and Information Studies:

• American Libraries
• Library Journal
• College & Research Libraries
• Journal of Academic Librarianship
• Libraries & the Cultural Record
• Library Quarterly
• Online
• Portal : Libraries & and Academy
• Reference & User Services Quarterly
• School Library Journal
• Reference Librarian

The American Library Association has numerous links on their website www.ala.org to help those of you who are thinking about a career in library and information studies.  If you are interested, librarycareer.org is a good place to begin.  Also below are a few links to help you:

Guidelines for choosing a graduate program for you.

The Directory of ALA-accredited master's in library and informational studies programs in the United States

The ALA offers scholarships and other financial assistance to help future library and information studies students.

Penn State also offers scholarships for future library and information studies students.

Since Penn State does not offer a degree in library and information science, University Libraries does not purchase many books pertaining to that area. In addition to consulting WorldCAT (see above), researchers should also visit the web sites of companies which tend to publish books pertaining to library and information science. The most common ones are below:

• ALA Editions (American Library Association)
• Chandos Publishing
• Greenwood Publishing Group (includes Libraries Unlimited)
• Information Today
• McFarland 
• Neal-Schuman Publishers
• Oak Knoll Press
• Scarecrow Press

• American Association of Law Libraries
• American Indian Library Association
• American Library Association
• American Medical Informatics Association
• American Society for Information Science and Technology
• American Theological Library Association
• Art Libraries Society of North America
• Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association
• Association for Educational Communications and Technology
• Association for Library and Information Science Education
• Association for Rural & Small Libraries
• Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services 
• Association of Jewish Libraries 
• Association of Research Libraries 
• Beta Phi Mu
• Black Caucus of ALA
• Canadian Library Association 
• Catholic Library Association
• Center for Research Libraries
• Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America, University of Wisconsin
• Children's Book Council
• Chinese American Librarians Association
• Council on Library/Media Technicians
• EDUCAUSE
• Friends of Libraries USA
• International Association of School Librarianship
• International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
• International Reading Association
• LOEX (focuses on library instruction)
• Medical Library Association
• Music Library Association
• National Storytelling Network
• North American Cartographic Information Society
• North American Serials Interest Group
• Online Audiovisual Catalogers, Inc. (OLAC)
• Patent and Trademark Depository Library Association
• Pennsylvania Library Association
• Public Library Association
• REFORMA
• Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing
• Society of American Archivists
• Special Libraries Association 
• Theatre Library Association

This list is to aid you in planning your professional calendars. This list should not be considered either comprehensive of all library-related conferences, meetings, etc. or definitive concerning locations, times, etc. Use the provided hyperlinks to retrieve official information from the websites of the respective conferences, meetings, etc. All recently added entries will be marked NEW for a period of approximately one week.  Conferences, meetings, etc. will be removed once they are over.  If you wish to have any conference, meeting, etc. included in this listing or wish to report any errors on this listing, please contact Glenn Masuchika.

A principal contributor to this listing is Dolores Fidishun. Her blog Dolores' List of CFPs is a detailed accumualtion of calls for papers and presentations in the disciplines of  Library Science, Information Science, Instructional Design and Technology, Education, including Adult Education, and Women’s and Gender Studies.

Another website of note is Marian Dworaczek's (University of Saskatchewan Library) Library-Related Conferences.  It is one of the most comprehensive listings of conferences, meetings, online courses, classes, etc. that are even remotely library-related. 

2010

2011

The members of the Library and Information Studies Research Guide group are Joe Fennewald (chair), Amy Deuink, Dolores Fidishun, Martin Goldberg, Bernadette Lear, and Glenn Masuchika.

Glenn Masuchika
Library Learning Services
814-867-2229

Martin Goldberg
Beaver Campus Library
724-773-3791

Bernadette Lear
Harrisburg Library
717-948-6360