Why do my my halogen light bulbs keep burning out/not work?

[Megan73]

I hope someone here has an electrical bent because I have two light fixtures that are driving me insane. The expensive bulbs in the four-light halogen fixture (swiveling lights along a bar) in our kitchen keep burning out, literally the day after we put in a new bulb. Meanwhile, bulbs won't even work in several sockets in the tracklight system (bulbs set in circles strung along two lengths of cable) in our family room. What is causing these problems? Do we need to call in an electrician?
Thanks for any help anyone can offer...

[Caneel]

We had a problem in our kitchen that an engineer friend attributed to the bulbs over heating, there wasn't enough air flow between the bulbs and the little shades.  We actually ended up switching out the fixtures.