As the OER movement expands in higher education, libraries are increasingly seeking to add OER librarians to their organizational charts. As an emerging subfield, OER librarianship takes many forms, and there are many paths to OER work. This study examines OER librarians' paths to the field, including their motivations for entering and remaining…

Many library directors and Associate University Librarians (AUL) are looking for support in diversifying library collections. Ithaka S+R developed this guide to contribute to the efforts emerging in response to this need. The guide presents a series of takeaways, exercises, and examples that those in leadership positions in academic libraries,…

The 2024 US Instructor Survey examines the instructional needs and practices of faculty at four-year colleges and universities across the United States and sheds light on how college instructors are adapting from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a renewed focus on diverse teaching and learning modalities. This new iteration of the survey is designed to…

The "Best of the Literature" column is intended to keep librarians, administrators, and staff up to date with the most recent, relevant, and useful literature of the field. In the last few years, students of color across the nation have spoken out about their experiences of racism and racial microaggressions on their campuses. They have…

As the world becomes more navigable, opportunities arise for people to live in different countries and for students to study internationally. Such capabilities require universities and other institutions of higher learning to accommodate cultural diversity. "Promoting Ethnic Diversity and Multiculturalism in Higher Education" is an…

College students are accessing virtual libraries whether they are on campus or learning from a distance. Academic institutions serving virtual patrons must remain focused on meeting the needs of those library users by continually examining their preferences, their searching behavior, and the information they seek. The purpose of this research was…

This discussion report identifies key issues in the management of special collections material in the 21st century. The report uses a broad definition of "special collections," which encompasses distinctive material in all media and attendant library services. The group's main focus was on 19th- and 20th-century materials, including…

"ARL" is the bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). "ARL" reports on current issues of interest to academic and research library administrators, staff, and users; higher…

Based on the experiences at Texas Tech University, this article discusses five issues that should be addressed when an academic library and a computer learning center share the same building: (1) organizational structure; (2) construction; (3) impact of the state economy; (4) security; and (5) advantages of the shared facility. (7 references) (MES)

This report marks the first release of library statistics data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It contains data on state library agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia for state fiscal year (FY) 2006. The data were collected through the State Library Agencies (StLA) Survey, the product of a cooperative effort…

"ARL" is the bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). "ARL" reports on current issues of interest to academic and research library administrators, staff, and…

Academic libraries are particularly affected by current financial problems in U.S. higher education. Lack of funds to make transitions as rapidly as higher education has changed focus or added dimensions is a recurrent theme in academic library development. This article presents the major developments and critical points of U.S. higher education…

This essay arguing for retention of sophisticated reference-desk service as separate from library instruction notes brief history of relationship and two fundamental reasons for separation: a "one-shot" lecture could not cover every tool useful for research needs of each individual student; and not all patrons are experiencing library instruction.…

This technical processing manual for federal documents is the culmination of efforts begun in 1981 to revise and implement procedures by the staff of the Government Documents Department of the University Library at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. While most of the general procedures in the manual are probably basic to most document…

Based on the relocation of the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) Library, this paper explores the importance of communication in project management. Definitions of project management are followed by an overview of the UTK move and discussions of the role of the project director, possible causes of mismatches between responsibilities and…