Planning and integration are the keys. Planned, regular assessment of student research and navigational skills is essential. The skill set keeps changing as new resources and tools become available, so curriculum assessement is on going as well. Through the process of library automation, the role of the professional staff must be kept clear. This usually means redefinition.
Librarianship is an information age career.
It is perhaps the most volatile of all fields in terms of changes being imposed by advances in technology. The alternative to keeping staff skills and duties current with the world outside the school is to de-professionalize the library media center. Unless the role of that expensive resource grows with the information needs of the learning community, professionals will find their skills and services subsumed by automated systems. Some schools have redefined the roles of libraries and librarians and even renamed the library to be Centers for Information Services. Choosing a network or library automation system really means choosing a manufacturer and platform.