In 2013, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded a group of seven librarians from the Research Library Leadership Fellows program of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) a planning grant to examine the center of excellence (CoE) model for information services. Used in a variety of industries, CoEs are designed to attract the most talented…

Five years ago the Association of College and Research Libraries published "The Value of Academic Libraries" report, spurring academic libraries to action concerning assessment. Communicating library value is especially important when reaching distance learning populations outside the walls of the library. By employing marketing and…

Are services that were once intended to be exclusively available to the distance learning population now typically available for all users in a university community? This article seeks to investigate this question using two different methods. First, an unobtrusive study of 100 library Websites was conducted to determine whether these libraries…

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of awareness, accessibility, and use of electronic journals (E-journals) by the faculty members of Garden City University College (GCUC) and Christian Service University College (CSUC) in Kumasi, Ghana. The survey method was used with questionnaire as the data collection instrument. The study…

The MLA's report "Language and Literature Research in Regional Comprehensive Institutions" identifies and documents the research support needs of faculty members in the disciplines of literature and language, cultural studies, and writing studies in the United States and its territories, focusing on institutions considered regional…

This article analyzes 21 in-depth interviews of engineering and atmospheric science faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) to determine faculty data management practices and needs within the context of their research activities. A detailed literature review of previous large-scale and institutional surveys and interviews…

Modern digital scholarship requires faculty to navigate an increasingly complex research and publication world. Liaison librarians are uniquely suited to assist faculty with scholarly communication needs, yet faculty do not identify the library as a provider of these services. Proactive promotion of scholarly communication services by librarians…

This study explores the idea of creating a knowledge base from shared online accounts to use in training librarians who perform distance reference services. Through a survey, follow-up interviews and a case study, the investigators explored current and potential use of shared online accounts as training tools. This study revealed that the…

Librarians at Central Oregon Community College's Barber Library explored how to best serve the needs of three satellite campuses across a large geographic region. While initially intending to start an embedded librarianship program, a pair of surveys showed the relationships and awareness necessary for the foundation of such a program were…

The Oregon State University Valley Library has been open 24 hours per day, five days per week, during regular academic terms since 2010. The authors collected survey data during 2012 to explore how students used the hours and whether they perceived that the provision of 24/5 hours contributes to their academic success. Nearly 90% of the…

Providing financial incentives to faculty who adopt free educational resources in place of traditional textbooks is becoming more common in U.S. higher education institutions. The University of Mississippi (UM) offered liberal arts instructors the opportunity to apply for internal funding to replace one traditional textbook in their classroom with…

In a highly competitive academic environment, students are becoming more selective and demanding in their choice of University. Hence, it is essential for educational institutions, particularly privately-owned institutions, to be interested in getting feedback on the quality of their facilities and services. With a focus on four private…

This report provides university and research library leaders with useful insights on emerging practices and infrastructures in European research information management (RIM), on the current and future role of persistent person and organization identifiers, and, more specifically, on incentives and barriers to adoption in three different national…

Studies about diversity initiatives in academic libraries have primarily focused on large research libraries. But what kinds of diversity work occur at smaller libraries? This study examines the status of diversity initiatives, especially those aimed at students, at national liberal arts college libraries. Results from a survey of library…

How do you effectively train and assess student staff in a learning commons environment? How do you foster a student-led approach while maintaining accurate and high-level service? How do you create an environment where student staff are engaged and motivated to succeed? Peer-to-peer service models are fundamental to many learning commons…