This exploratory study seeks to gather preliminary information about the roles that academic librarians in the United States (US) and Canada play in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) work on their campuses. It also provides insight into how librarians at US Carnegie Research 1 (R1) classified universities and U15 Group of Canadian…

This qualitative study examines how academic librarians understand, conceptualize, and describe their teacher identity. The role of the academic librarian has greatly changed due to the advent of information technology. Traditionally, they were generalists, who were responsible for selecting and maintaining library collections. Academic librarian…

Systematic reviews, and other forms of knowledge synthesis, are an increasingly popular research methodology being used in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences. Librarians are being called upon to support this work through consultation, instruction, and/or performing the systematic search on behalf of the research team. Professional…

This new report details findings from a study OCLC conducted with libraries in mid-2011 to learn about their priorities, initiatives, thoughts on the future of their service points and the sources they use to keep up with developments in the library field. Most community college library staff: (1) Consider licensed e-collections and e-books to be…

Since the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) unveiled its WorldCat Local library catalog discovery layer in 2008, library instructors have debated how to incorporate this tool into their teaching. WorldCat Local's faceted searching brings both educational benefits and unexpected challenges to the classroom. Instructors frequently hold formal…

Despite the old-fashioned view of the academic library as a static institution, libraries can and do change in response to the needs of users and stakeholders. Perhaps the most dramatic shift in services has been the transition from a purely physical to a combination physical/virtual or even virtual-only environment. This article examines how…

Understanding how to better engage young students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is essential. The constraints of U.S. K-12 schools (e.g. insufficient institutional supports, lack of technology access, testing pressures, etc.) often make it difficult to create truly engaging STEM curricula with which students can deeply…

The current ARL report summarizes a multi-year effort that captures evidence in the form of narrative profiles as it delivers the message of the value and contributions of research libraries during transformative times. When ARL library directors were interviewed in 2005 and asked to describe a research library in the 21st century, there was…

As critical thinking, student-centered learning, and assessment have become essential to the mission of institutions of higher education, librarians are increasingly challenged to assist the university in meeting these goals by teaching information literacy. Information seeking behavior of students has been studied as faculty and librarians…

This qualitative study examines current community college library practices in developmental education. Based on semistructured telephone interviews with 27 librarians across the United States, analysis of the results shows that there are librarians who proactively integrate basic library skills into developmental education and academic success…

This report presents information on the administrative organization of library instruction programs for university undergraduates in the United States and England. Particular attention was paid to libraries with professionals designated as "library instruction librarians." Four patterns of organization were found; broad staff involvement…

A brief historical overview of the library instruction scene in the United States and Canada, an analysis of library instruction conference themes, and the identification of perceptions of librarians attending the LOEX, WILU, and LOEX of the West conferences in 2000 and 2001 reveal that the border may be responsible for significant differences…

This study investigated university student information literacy skills benchmarked by the Association of College and Research Libraries: (a) determine the extent of information needed, (b) access the needed information effectively and efficiently, (c) evaluate information and its sources critically, (d) understand the economic, legal, and social…

Examines academic library service to labor groups, particularly in the area of Internet training. Results of an informal survey of 53 academic libraries in schools with labor study programs in the United States and Canada indicate that few provide direct services to labor unions, and provides an example of one that does at Cornell University.…