This article presents a case for the benefits of knowledge exchange in the academic library. The authors define knowledge exchange and use the concept as a framework for describing a peer learning experience rooted in best digital practices education. Their partnership enabled the authors to extend their professional roles while developing…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") focuses on current and emerging topics that are strategically important to research libraries. The articles explore issues, share information, pose critical questions, and provide examples. This issue includes the following articles: (1) Business Intelligence and Data Visualization with Tableau…

Libraries are changing. Although they still provide access to information, they also are tasked with teaching new users how to take advantage of available resources. They are expanding their role as community-wide help centers while continuing to be a place for reflection, sharing and learning. Shelves filled with rows upon rows of books no longer…

In this article, Oakmont Regional High School (Ashburnham, Massachusetts) librarian Jeffrey Aubuchon describes how the school library is developing a new classification scheme called the Spartan system. This system seeks to mirror instructional practices at Oakmont. The major divisions of the collection will be drawn around academic departments…

Forty years ago, the author arrived in Boston with an associate's degree and two years' experience in the corporate world. The idea of working at a college appealed, so she boarded the B line trolley to Boston College. She arrived on campus, found the human resources office, took a typing test, interviewed with the director of freshman financial…

In this essay, we embrace a vision of the future of academic libraries where librarians confront and creatively address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity within our profession and actively pursue a social justice agenda within our libraries and in the communities we serve. This future requires that we acknowledge that many of our current…

Jane Maud Campbell's career demonstrated her commitment and passion for library services with immigrants and minorities as one of the first advocates for multiculturalism in librarianship. She began her career working in the Newark Public Library and soon was employed as the librarian of the Passaic Public Library. She was the first woman employed…

Games and other forms of play are used in today's libraries to attract underserved patrons, to introduce patrons to other library resources and services, and to facilitate engagement between library patrons. While many perceive gaming as a new library service, gaming services have been part of librarianship since the nineteenth century through…

A master's comprehensive University is planning a learning commons to support undergraduate learning. The planning process included a literature review, site visits to commons, consultations with experts in the field, discussions with campus specialists, and surveys of patrons. The literature reports two primary forms of data gathering for…

In today's world of instant everything, everyone has been exposed to some form of Web 2.0 technology, and higher education is not exempt from its long reach. Libraries of all types are incorporating Web 2.0 features to attract users as well as to showcase library services. The Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) has become more user-friendly with…

This guide is based on findings of a year-long study undertaken by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to evaluate Institute-sponsored programs for youth aged 9-19 between 1998 and 2003, and discussion with the IMLS Youth Action Committee and practitioners about the kind of information needed for planning and implementing effective…

Describes elements of the Planning for Library Services for People with Disabilities program in Massachusetts, which was developed to help libraries design programs and services to address the specific needs of a growing population of people with disabilities. Emphasizes using consumer input in plan designs. (Author/LRW)

Description of the development of a computer-based resource-sharing program in Massachusetts highlights past planning efforts, development of philosophical basis of network, network activities (development and linking of bibliographic databases, document request and delivery procedures, computer literacy/training for librarians), and issues…

The access and reproduction policies of the digital collections of 10 leading university digital libraries worldwide are classified according to factors such as the creation type of the material, acquisition method, copyright ownership etc. The relationship of these factors is analysed, showing how acquisition methods and copyright ownership…

Describes a process undertaken by small, rural libraries in Massachusetts in which trustees, librarians, and community leaders identified the possible roles of libraries and prioritized needs for individual communities. The results include an emphasis on community standards rather than national, and a list of three basic roles of all libraries.…