Finals week activities have become increasingly popular in academic libraries in the last few years, but what is a library to do when it is not allowed to have therapy dogs? This column examines a progression of increasingly popular activities at Michigan State University Libraries. Included is an assessment of what makes them popular, our…

The Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries' Website has a case of TMI: too much information organized by librarians for librarians. Finding relevant information about various library services, including the 24/7 Distance Learning Support Line, and access points to scholarly resources is often cumbersome, and given the limited time and staffing…

In this article, the authors describe how they created a school library that is the center of learning in their school community with the collaborative vision of the principal (Mat McRae) and the school librarian (Kay Wejrowski) and the support of their entire staff. For eight years, McRae and Wejrowski have worked together as principal and school…

The University of Michigan Library wanted to learn more about the kinds of searches its users were conducting through the "one search" search box on the Library Web site. Library staff conducted two investigations. A preliminary investigation in 2011 involved the manual review of the 100 most frequently occurring queries conducted…

With both budget dollars and buying power shrinking for academic library collections, the selection of materials is a series of crucial choices. With increases in numbers of online programs, how can we determine if what we are buying is in fact what our users need? E-reserves are an increasingly popular way to provide digital copies of course…

Automated storage/retrieval systems (ASRSs) are playing an integral part in today's library operations and collections management. Eastern Michigan University installed an ASRS as part of the new Halle Library, which opened in May 1998, to provide "storage" for up to 800,000 items. Over the past 10 years our policies and procedures have…

Three sources indicated the need for designing a usability study of the Western Michigan University Libraries' Web site: the results of the 2004 LibQUAL+ survey; the completion of the library's new strategic planning document; and suggestions by library customers and library staff. LibQUAL+ findings and customer comments suggested customers…

This report presents the Library of Michigan's (LM) long term plan for the period of March, 1997 to September, 1999. The external and internal initiatives of the Board of Trustees are first highlighted. Then, following the Library of Michigan vision statement, four topics are discussed. These each include an outline of the objective and the…

The goals of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), as administered by the Library of Michigan, are to support statewide access to information, enhance equity of access by providing special assistance to those with difficulty in using a library, support librarians as they develop information skills and foster innovation and technical…

The following information is provided in this annual report: names and positions of 1996 Board of Trustees members, Library of Michigan Foundation 1996 Board of Directors, legislative council, alternate members, and Library of Michigan staff; the library mission; a list of 10 major administrative tasks conducted in 1996; service and technological…

The Kalamazoo Public Library recently won an election that increased local library tax support from 2.8074 mills to 4 mills. Knowing why the election was being held, when information on the issue(s) would be communicated to voters, and how the information would be disseminated contributed to its success. The funding provides for renovations, a new…

This statistical report on Michigan's libraries presents data provided by academic libraries, public libraries, public library cooperatives, and those public libraries that that serve as regional or subregional outlets to provide services for blind and physically handicapped patrons. For academic libraries, data are compiled from the 1998 academic…