Zhang and Salaba explain the benefits and practical implementation of user-friendly cataloging model

New York, NY (August 25, 2009) – Current cataloging standards and practices must evolve quickly in order to avoid obsolescence in an increasingly electronic age. Implementing FRBR in Libraries: Key Issues and Future Directions, to be published by Neal-Schuman on October 10, 2009, documents the framework and practical implementation of Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), a crucial new user-focused model of the bibliographic universe designed to better support today’s information seeking users.

Authors Yin Zhang and Athena Salaba, winners of the 2009 ALISE/Bohdan S. Wynar Research Paper Competition Award, give readers a comprehensive FRBR resource that is divided into seven easy-to-follow chapters. They begin with an introduction to the FRBR model’s purpose and background, and explain the reasons for its introduction, its potential benefits, and most critical issues to date. Zhang and Salaba then provide a detailed description of the model’s fundamental structure and essential components, and discuss the ways in which FRBR influences and transforms description standards, cataloging and metadata practices, and current standard development.

The next two chapters showcase real-life examples of successful FRBR application and implementation across different types of media and in various disciplines and settings, including traditional libraries, digital libraries, and consortia. The authors detail the FRBR model’s role in creating more effective library catalogs, and provide examples of various implementation approaches and projects that have involved the development of FRBR-based systems, algorithms, and software. The following chapter covers both current FRBR developmental research efforts along with some of the critical gaps in user research that need to be addressed. Zhang and Salaba conclude with a unified overview of FRBR and its most prominent future development directions.

Detailed illustrations and a comprehensive appendix of key terms and acronyms guide readers through the model’s key elements, and a list of FRBR projects and software is included for easy reference.

Implementing FRBR in Libraries: Key Issues and Future Directions is a clear and straightforward guide to help the LIS professional and academic communities better understand and practically apply the FRBR model to improve cataloging efforts and meet 21st century user needs.

Implementing FRBR in Libraries: Key Issues and Future Directions
ISBN: 978-1-5570-661-6.
2009. 6×9. 230pp. $75.00.

About the Authors
Yin Zhang is an Associate Professor at the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. She received her B.S. and M.S. in Information Science from Wuhan University, P.R. China and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her articles have appeared in a variety of journals, including Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology and Library Quarterly.
Athena Salaba is an Assistant Professor at the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University. She received her M.L.S. from Kent State University and her Ph.D. from the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is serving as the Co-chair and Secretary of the IFLA Working Group on the Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Records (FRSAR).

About Neal-Schuman Publishers
Neal-Schuman Publishers is a leading publisher of professional books for librarians, archivists and knowledge managers. Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is based in New York City, with offices in London, UK.

For More Information and/or Cover Art
Contact Sarah Eisenberg
sarah.eisenberg@neal-schuman.com
100 William Street, Suite 2004
New York, NY 10038
212-925-8650
www.neal-schuman.com

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Keeping children engaged is the key to storytime success

New York, NY (August 12, 2009) – Storytimes that promote active participation and learning capture children’s attention and stimulate their cognitive abilities. More Storytime Action! 2,000+ Ideas for Making 500+ Picture Books Interactive, to be published on October 2, 2009 by Neal-Schuman Publishers, offers librarians and teachers over 2,000 highly practical, ready-to-implement ideas and activities for creating fully interactive, engaging, and educational storytime programs.

Author Jennifer Bromann’s comprehensive resource provides myriad ways for turning 520 recently-published, high-quality picture books into interactive stories. Leading off the five chapters is a review of the top ten elements of an interactive story, along with an overview of important research about storytime and its role in developing young readers. The second chapter guides readers through essential storytelling principles, and offers advice for selecting and preparing materials for both traditional and alternative formats. In the third chapter, Bromann outlines the best methods for selecting appropriate interactive stories and materials. She focuses specifically on using review sources as selection guides and the important role that multicultural awareness plays in the process.

The fourth chapter includes twenty, complete, theme-based storytime plans that can be instantly replicated or adapted for use with different book choices. Each theme is paired with related book titles, recommended supplies, plus ready-to-use activities and craft ideas. The book’s concluding chapter contains a sweeping collection of 520 recommended picture books that can all be easily adapted for interaction. Bromann includes a summary of each book, sample storytelling formats, and suggestions for turning each title into a dynamic storytime experience. There are two complete indexes, organized by both title and theme, to enable easy and efficient reference.

More Storytime Action! provides busy librarians and teachers with an abundance of immediately implementable, top-quality titles, activities, and plans that will boost children’s attention spans and enliven storytimes.

More Storytime Action! 2,000+ Ideas for Making 500 Picture Books Interactive
ISBN: 978-1-55570-675-3.
2009. 6×9. 326pp. $55.00.

About the Author
Jennifer Bromann is the author of several books from Neal-Schuman, including Storytime Action!, Booktalking that Works, and More Booktalking that Works, and has also written for School Library Journal. She is currently the librarian at Lincoln-Way West High School in New Lenox, IL . She teaches courses on college reading, multicultural children’s literature, children’s library services, reference, and information literacy at Joliet Junior College, Illinois State University, and Northern Illinois University.

About Neal-Schuman Publishers
Neal-Schuman Publishers is a leading publisher of professional books for librarians and teachers including storytime guides, information literacy titles, and adolescent literature. Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is based in New York City, with offices in London, UK.

For More Information and/or Cover Art
Contact Sarah Eisenberg
sarah.eisenberg@neal-schuman.com
100 William Street, Suite 2004
New York, NY 10038
212-925-8650
www.neal-schuman.com

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Leading expert Diane Kovacs selects and annotates core e-resources in 15 major subject areas

New York, NY (August 15, 2009) – Libraries are essential conduits for connecting today’s information-seekers with the electronic and Web-based resources they want and demand. The Kovacs Guide to Electronic Library Collection Development: Essential Core Subject Collections, Selection Criteria, and Guidelines, Second Edition, to be released by Neal-Schuman on September 30, 2009, outlines the best essential strategies, tools, and electronic resources available for building and maintaining robust e-library collections and services.

Award-winning trainer and consultant Diane K. Kovacs offers this one-stop resource for any librarian who wants to develop, expand, or improve an e-library. Following a foreword from Harvard University Research Librarian and renowned Library Journal columnist Cheryl LaGuardia and an introduction from Academic Librarian and Professor Barbara Fister, Kovacs divides the book into two parts, the first of which focuses on general collection planning recommendations and reviews the fundamental principles for creating a usable e-library collection plan. There are specific strategies for collecting, evaluating, and selecting e-resources, as well as concrete advice on critical maintenance, management, licensing, and cataloging issues.

Part II is an unparalleled collection development tool offering selection criteria and core e-resources collections in 15 specific subject areas: ready-reference, government documents, genealogy, jobs and employment, business, legal information, medical information, biological sciences, engineering, chemistry, physics, astronomy, mathematics, earth sciences, social sciences, education, the arts, and the humanities. Each chapter identifies subject-specific selection processes, evaluation, and organization criteria, and includes related real-life e-library success stories. This edition features all-new Web 2.0 related services and government e-documents.

Checklists, forms, tables, and figures provide further reinforcement for practical implementation. The book’s regularly updated, bonus companion Web site features an extensive list of annotated links to all of the sites, e-resources, and core reference e-resources detailed in the book, and can be easily imported into a library Web site or OPAC.

The Kovacs Guide to Electronic Library Collection Development: Essential Core Subject Collections, Selection Criteria, and Guidelines, Second Edition, is an authoritative, start-to-finish primer to help guide librarians through the crucial policies and practices for planning, developing, improving, or maintaining an e-library.

The Kovacs Guide to Electronic Library Collection Development: Essential Core Subject Collections, Selection Criteria, and Guidelines, Second Edition
ISBN: 978-1-5570-664-7.
2009. 8.5×11. 300pp. $150.00.

About the Author
Diane K. Kovacs received an MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois and a M. Ed. in Instructional Technology from Kent State University. She is currently President of Kovacs Consulting—Internet & Web Training, and is a recipient of the “Documents to the People” award from the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association. She is a past editor-in-chief of the Directory of Scholarly and Professional Electronic Conferences, and has authored numerous books, including The Virtual Reference Handbook: Interview and Information Delivery Techniques for the Chat and E-Mail Environment and Genealogical Research on the Web.

About Neal-Schuman Publishers
Neal-Schuman Publishers is a leading publisher of professional books for librarians, archivists and knowledge managers. Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is based in New York City, with offices in London, UK.

For More Information and/or Cover Art
Contact Sarah Eisenberg
sarah.eisenberg@neal-schuman.com
100 William Street, Suite 2004
New York, NY 10038
212-925-8650
www.neal-schuman.com

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New York, NY (May 15, 2009) – Neal Schuman Publishers redoubles its commitment to serving the library and information science community through a new alliance with UK-based Chandos Publishing. Effective June 1, 2009, Neal-Schuman will exclusively distribute Chandos books in North America, making over 150 high-quality professional and academic titles more easily available to librarians, archivists, and knowledge managers.

“Our mission has always been to further the professional development of the LIS community. Through our new relationship with Chandos, we now have the opportunity to greatly expand our offerings across all subjects in the field while maintaining the high standards you expect from a Neal-Schuman title,” said Neal-Schuman President, Patricia Glass Schuman.

Chandos Publishing is known for an innovative and practical approach to addressing pertinent topics in Library and Information Science, Knowledge Management, and Archival Practices. Forward-looking titles, including Emerging Technologies for Academic Libraries in the Digital Age, by LiLi Li of Georgia Southern University, and Digital Rights Management, by Grace Agnew of Rutgers University, provide insight into cutting-edge digital and Web 2.0 trends in the field. Neal-Schuman’s new relationship with Chandos also makes available an authoritative collection of tools for both practitioner use and graduate study, including titles like Organizing Knowledge, by Patrick Lambe, and Licensing and Managing Electronic Resources by Rebecca S. Albitz of Pennsylvania State University.

“We’ve built a comprehensive, first-class collection of professional and academic titles for the international market,” said Dr. Glyn Jones, Publisher, of Chandos Publishing. “Neal-Schuman is known for its unmatched quality in publishing and close ties to and support of the LIS community – joining forces allows us to serve the field with the best its authors have to offer.”

As of June 1, 2009, Chandos titles will be exclusively available for sale through Neal-Schuman (www.neal-schuman.com or 1-866-BOOKS) and backorders can be placed now. Chandos’ 2009 complete catalog will be available to view online and for download at www.neal-schuman.com.

About Neal-Schuman Publishers
Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is based in New York City with offices in London, UK. Neal-Schuman is a leading publisher of professional and academic titles in all areas of library and information studies. Since 2003, Neal-Schuman has also been the exclusive North American distributor for titles from the United Kingdom’s Facet Publishing, part of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.

About Chandos Publishing
A division of Woodhead Publishing Limited, Chandos is committed to publishing books of the highest possible standard. Chandos books are highly practical and a leading source of authoritative information for professionals and researchers worldwide.

For the Chandos Catalog or More Information
Contact Sarah Eisenberg
sarah.eisenberg@neal-schuman.com
100 William Street, Suite 2004
New York, NY 10038
212-925-8650
www.neal-schuman.com

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New York, NY (July 31, 2009)—As one of life’s richest traditions, storytelling remains an essential part of children’s programming and serves as a vital link between the past and present, connects different cultures, fosters vital communication skills and enhances imaginations. Telling Tales: A Guidebook & DVD, to be published by Neal-Schuman on September 30, 2009, weaves together step-by-step written guidance with inspiring visual demonstrations to provide librarians and educators with a dynamic, hands-on introduction to selecting, developing and performing stories that will enliven and engage young audiences.

Author and experienced educator Emily S. Chasse’s comprehensive guide to storytelling is for tellers of all experience levels and learning styles. Following a preface from Spencer G. Shaw, renowned for his storytelling artistry and knowledge, the book is divided into thirteen chapters and begins by examining the background, benefits and fundamentals of storytelling. Chasse outlines the steps for finding and choosing the right tales and offers advice for enhancing performance skills and engaging audiences. The following section focuses on a variety of major storytelling genres and themes including classical mythology, family tales and oral history, legends and epics, ballads, folklore and fairytales. Chasse then covers a broad range of unique and emerging storytelling methods, like incorporating new technologies through digital storytelling, tandem telling, plays and puppetry. There is also logistical guidance for handling copyright considerations, finding additional online resources, working with special needs, business and senior audiences and developing effective marketing strategies. Each chapter includes a useful summary, suggestions for related resources and a complete bibliography.

The accompanying DVD is an integral tool that affords readers the unique opportunity to visualize the book’s written guidance through an array of exemplary storytellers in action. Sample tales span the gamut of structures and genres and demonstrate vital storytelling elements like voice modification, gestures, movement and audience involvement, along with effective practices for using stories to connect audiences with different cultures.

Telling Tales: A Guidebook & DVD shares the essential tips and strategies to help both novice and experienced storytellers educate and excite their young users through this important tradition.

Telling Tales: A Guidebook & DVD
ISBN: 978-1-55570-645-6.
2009. 6×9. 200pp. $65.00.

About the Author
Emily S. Chasse is a librarian, teacher, and storyteller from West Hartford, Connecticut. She works as a librarian and teacher at Central Connecticut State University, has taught storytelling courses in the English and Reading Departments at Central Connecticut State University for over 20 years, and is sought-after by young people and adults for her storytelling. Emily hopes that this book will encourage others to try telling stories and to enjoy sharing tales with others of all ages.

About Neal-Schuman Publishers
Neal-Schuman Publishers is a leading publisher of professional books for librarians, archivists and knowledge managers. Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is based in New York City, with offices in London, UK.

For More Information and/or Cover Art
Contact Sarah Eisenberg
sarah.eisenberg@neal-schuman.com
100 William Street, Suite 2004
New York, NY 10038
212-925-8650
www.neal-schuman.com

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