Located on the second floor of Carlson Library, the department offices, classroom, and laboratories accommodate a variety of activities for students and faculty within a compact area. The library science classroom is equipped to handle interactive television classes as well as traditional instruction and has a full range of digital equipment, including networked computer display units. Students have ready access to a wide variety of information services including the ability to create and edit multimedia presentations. All students receive university e-mail accounts and access to the Internet. Revised 29October2007.
Carlson Library includes an Instructional Technology Center, computer laboratories, and a collection of juvenile books and curriculum materials for library science study in addition to the usual reference, periodical, and circulating collections. Revised 27 February 2003.
Center for the Study of Rural Librarianship
The Department of Library Science is dedicated to addressing the information needs of the constituencies of all types of libraries, large and small. The Center for the Study of Rural Librarianship was organized in recognition of this need. "Rural" is defined by the center as a population of 25,000 or fewer people. The center has developed out of a particular concern for library services apart from areas influenced by metropolitan library systems, i.e., the small library in the rural context. Public, school, academic, and special or corporate libraries are all within the interests of the center. Further, library systems or networks which include the small library are included in the center's work.
The activities of the center are varied. They include the annual hosting of a national bookmobile conference along with statewide and regional conferences relating to community economic development and information technology. In addition to continuing education activities, the center conducts ongoing research on a wide variety of rural related topics. Additionally, a major project of the center involves an annual investigation of the impact of public libraries in the United States. This latter activity is supported by the H. W. Wilson Foundation.
The center supports a publication program which includes a biannual journal, Rural Libraries, the only one that is currently being published in the area of rural librarianship.
Current Studies in Librarianship
Current Studies in Librarianship is a forum for research by library science students on subjects of general interest to librarians. It is published jointly by the Department of Library Science and the College of Graduate Studies under the co-editorship of Dr. James T. Maccaferri and Ms. Patricia Newland. Papers submitted for publication should be readable, timely, thought provoking, and contain new information or approach known information with new insight. All submissions should conform to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2001), and should be typed using double spacing throughout. If possible, manuscripts should be prepared using Microsoft Word (Windows or Macintosh) and should be submitted on disk and in hard copy. Address subscription inquiries and manuscript submissions to Current Studies in Librarianship, Department of Library Science, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, 840 Wood Street, Clarion, PA 16214-1232, or send e-mail to cur_studies@clarion.edu.
Current Studies in Librarianship is indexed by Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) and Library Literature & Information Science.
Revised 8September 2004.
Institute for the Study and Development of School Library Information Centers
The institute was established in fall 1999 as a unit of the Center for the Study of Rural Librarianship. It conducts and disseminates research in the areas related to school library development and the professional education of school librarians; provides professional development opportunities for school library information professionals, classroom teachers, and school administrators within Pennsylvania and across the nation; and provides consulting services to schools and agencies interested in the development of urban or rural school library media centers. 1 September 2000.