Service Tree

The Service Tree lists all services in "branched" groups, starting with the very general and moving to the very specific. Click on the name of any group name to see the sub-groups available within it. Click on a service code to see its details and the providers who offer that service.

3D Printing

Public, academic and special libraries or other organizations that offer 3D printing services, a process that creates three dimensional solid objects from a 3D digital model, typically by laying down many layers of material in succession. Users make a virtual design, often a CAD (Computer Aided Design) file, of the object they want to create using a 3D modeling application. If making a 3D copy of an existing object, a 3D scanner can be used. The technology is significant because it offers direct manufacturing, i.e., a design that goes directly from the creator to the physical product using a computer and a 3D printer.

Book Downloads

A service (often offered by public libraries) that permits authorized users to electronically download the contents of books in either text or audio format to a computer, personal media player, or other electronic device on which the item may then be read or listened to. The downloaded material is generally accompanied by digital rights management mechanisms which restrict the user's ability to copy the downloaded item to other devices or print the text, or which render the downloaded item unusable after a specified period of time.

Bookmobiles

Large motor vehicles especially equipped to carry books and other library materials that travel to communities which do not have immediate access to a nearby library.

Children's Library Services

Libraries that offer special programs to acquaint children with library services and encourage them to read.

Home Library Services

Libraries that arrange for the delivery by mail or volunteer messenger of books and/or audiovisual materials to people who, because of an illness, injury or disability, are unable to leave their homes to select their own reading and/or listening material in person.

Interlibrary Loan

A service that enables patrons to obtain access to books, journals and other materials unavailable at their own library by borrowing the items (or a photocopy of the materials) from the collection of another library. The patron’s library locates the items, processes the interlibrary loan request, notifies the patron when the materials have been received and returns the materials to the second library when the individual has finished using them. Patrons are permitted to keep any photocopies.

Library Audiovisual Services

Libraries or other organizations that maintain collections of nonprint literary and artistic materials (films and recordings and the equipment that is required for their enjoyment) which are made available to the community on a loan basis. Audiovisual resources include DVDs, audio books, music CDs and language instruction recordings as well as access to eBooks, eAudio and movie and television streaming services.

Special Collections and Archives

Public, academic and some special libraries or other organizations that acquire, house and make available to the community for purposes of research or appreciation, rare books, aggregations of printed works or manuscripts on a particular subject or by a particular author; artistic materials by a particular artist or representative of a particular era or style; or other collectibles that are rare, of special interest, of historical significance or of scholarly value. Also included are organizations that acquire, classify and make available to the community on a loan or distribution basis, special document collections or reading materials in a variety of language or special formats which enable people who have visual or hearing impairments or who read in a language other than English to enjoy leisure reading materials and selected nonfiction and reference works. Some collections include materials that require specialized security and user services. Some special collections are standalone institutions that are privately funded, such as the Newberry Library or the American Antiquarian Society while others are part of a larger institution, such as the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Many American university special collections grew out of the merging of rare book rooms and manuscripts departments in a university's library system.

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