American Library Association lauds three library programs for best use of cutting-edge technologies

Contact: Jenni Terry


Press Officer


ALA Washington Office


202-628-8410

jterry@alawash.org

For Immediate Release


March 23, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) has recognized Contra Costa County Library in Pleasant Hill, Calif.; North Carolina State University Libraries in Raleigh, N.C.; and Jones Library in Amherst, Mass., for their use of cutting-edge technologies in library services.

In June 2009, OITP and the subcommittee for its
Program on America’s Libraries for the 21st Century issued a call for nominations for best library practices using cutting-edge technology to showcase libraries that are serving their communities with novel and innovative methods.

“We were looking to find creative ways libraries are using technology, such as applying 21st century technologies to provide a new way of delivering a traditional service or using traditional technologies in a novel way for delivering a service. The three winners all fit our criteria,” said Vivian Pisano, Chief of Information Technology, San Francisco Public Library, and Chair of OITP’s Advisory Committee and Subcommittee on America’s Libraries for the 21st Century.

After selecting the winners, OITP produced
descriptions of the programs to provide the library community with some successful models for delivering quality library service in new ways.

“The selection committee looked at many submissions, but these three projects stood out because they could be replicated by other libraries,” said Christine Lind Hage, Director, Rochester Hills Public Library, who chaired the selection committee.

“In particular we were looking for creative solutions to common problems using readily available and affordable technology.”


About the Winners:

  • Library-a-Go-Go, Contra Costa County Library, Pleasant Hill, Calif.


     The Library-a-Go-Go service uses fully automated touchscreen materials-lending machines to provide stand-alone library services in non-library environments. For more information:
    http://ccclib.org/locations/libraryagogo.html.

  • Course Views [Library Tools] Project, North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries, Raleigh, N.C.

The NCSU Libraries implemented a cutting-edge service in response to the difficulty of creating and maintaining enough “course pages” – recommended resources for specific courses and assignments – to meet students’ needs. The Course Views system provides pages for all 6,000 courses offered by over 150 departments at NCSU. For more information:
www.lib.ncsu.edu/dli/projects/courseviews.

  • Digital Amherst, a project of the Jones Library, Amherst, Mass.

Digital Amherst provides digital historical and cultural materials—photographs and other images, articles, lectures and multimedia presentations—to Amherst locals, scholars and tourists. For more information:
www.digitalamherst.org/.

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